The New Zealand Warriors hopes of playing in the inaugural NRL women's grand final are over after they lost 32-10 to the Brisbane Broncos.
The Broncos confirmed their place in the final with a dominant six tries to two performance in Melbourne.
Warriors halfback Georgia Hale in action on debut against Auckland Photo: © Copyright Andrew Cornaga / www.photosport.nz Photosport Ltd 2018
The result bumped the Warriors down to last, meaning the Broncos will meet the winner of Saturday's clash between the Dragons and Roosters in next Sunday's grand final.
After they led 16-10 at half-time, the Broncos ran in three unanswered tries in the second half to capitalise on a wealth of possession.
"It was disappointing, especially seeing how well we were doing in the first half, the momentum the team had built up," Warriors coach Luisa Avaiki said.
"The effort is there but it sometimes just comes from one bad decision and accumulates, and hard to bounce back from those. We knew they were a quality side and did believe we could match the Broncos in areas of the field. You give them those opportunities and they'll use them against any opposition."
Warriors captain Laura Mariu said a lack of structure proved decisive.
"At times we went away from the game plan and getting the kick done," Mariu said.
"(We weren't) necessarily trying to score tries off every set, but went away from that unfortunately which bit us in the butt."
-AAP
